It was the dream match-up everybody was looking forward to and Olympic champion Kevin Martin continued his season for the ages with a 6-4 win over current world champion Kevin Koe in the final of Monday's Westcoast Curling Classic in New Westminster.

The final was a seesaw affair that saw Koe pull out to a quick 2-0 lead with the hammer, only to see Martin get a deuce in the second and a steal of one in the third. After Koe equalized in the fourth and the two teams blanked the fifth, the pivotal moment in the match came in the sixth end.

With Koe facing two Martin stones in the house, Koe had his third, Blake McDonald, take out only one stone instead of the double kill. Martin's third, John Morris, then played a deft hit and roll to split up the two Martin stones and Koe was left with a tougher double that he couldn't make.

After Martin set up his two again, Koe was left with a delicate freeze for his final shot. When that came up short, Martin, with the hammer, picked out Koe's stone and scored the pivotal two points to take a 5-3 lead.

"Six for sure was the game," said Koe, who had to stay an extra day in the Lower Mainland because he couldn't get a flight back to Edmonton. "Maybe we should have played the takeout earlier but even with the shot we left for (Martin), that's a shot he makes 80 per cent of the time."

"The sixth was real good," said Martin. "It was a really close game and we had them on the run."

With Koe needing a big end in the seventh, Martin shut the door again with a huge double takeout that forced Koe to take a single.

Martin went into the final end with the hammer and the lead, but Koe forced Martin to play right until the final shot.

Martin faced three Koe stones in the house and had to draw to the four foot for the win.

Cool as the Olympic gold medal he has at home in Edmonton, Martin put his final stone on the button for the final point in a 6-4 win.

"Kevin (Martin) is so good that we expect him to make shots like that," said Koe of Martin's final draw. "Overall, I look at this as a pretty good stretch. We won in Vernon last weekend and we were 6-1 here. When you're playing one of the best, you can't make any mistakes."

Martin said he wasn't nervous with his two key shots in the final two ends.

"In seven, we really needed that double and in eight, I wasn't nervous, I was excited. It's a shot you gotta have and that's why you're in the game."

Martin won the title for the fifth time, his first since 2008, to cap a year that also saw him come from Edmonton to Vancouver in February to win a little hunk of gold.

"It's a ton of fun to come here because they run such a great tournament," said Martin. "It's been a great year for us."

Monday's final pitted arguably the two best teams in the world, who each went through the Royal City tournament without a loss, earning themselves a bye on Sunday - time for the friendly foursomes to hit the links at Burnaby Mountain for a round of golf.

"We played a scramble, Ryder Cup style," said Martin, who partnered with Morris to tie Koe and Carter Rycroft. "We had a really fun time on the golf course."

In the Sunday morning quarterfinals, Martin escaped with a 6-4 win over Brock Virtue on the strength of three in the seventh and a steal of one in the final end.

In the Sunday afternoon semifinals, Martin dispatched defending champion Bob Ursel 6-3 with a steal of three in the final end when Ursel's final stone couldn't negotiate a small port for the potential game-winning single.

Koe earned his spot in the final with three points in the final end to beat Pat Simmons of Regina 6-4.

Martin's squad took home $20,000 for the win while Koe's team took home $12,500 for Sunday's loss. Koe also won $950 at the Oct. 7 opening skins game.